Hydraulic dredge



May 28, 1935.

A. NEVELING HYDRAULIC DREDGE Filed July 9, 1932 2 Sheets-Sheet l May 28, 1935. A. NEVELING HYDRAULIC DREDGE Filed July 9, 1932 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 lol. WV n y o JM E a a e m5 d m V w m@ w, QQ# m. w

Patented May 28, 1935 VMUNITED ,STATES ,PATENT` OFFICE HYDRAULIC DREDGE Alpys Neveling, chicago, 1141. Application July 9,v 1932, Serial No. 621,662

13 Claims.

This invention, relates to improvements in dredges of the hydraulic type and its purpose is to provide an improved construction which may be employed emciently for removing material .5 from Athe bottoms of rivers, vharbors `and the like,

leaving a flat surface brother desired surface after the dredging operation' has been completed. Heretofore hydraulic dredges havebeen commonly employedfor .so-called cleaning up operations in which a relatively thin layer` of material, for example, one or twoY feet thick, is removed fromthe bottom `of the river or harbor and it has been found that the barrel-shapedrotary hollow cutters which have been employed with this type oi dredges are not well adapted for these opera'- tions because the dredge conduit and the cutter are usually directed at such an angle to the surface of the material being excavated that relatively Small portions of the cutting blades of the cutter are utilized,V thereby resulting inthe cutting ofA successive furrows in the bottom as the boom of the dredge is swung laterally with the conduitto move the cutter over the desired arc, whilefinadditiona relatively small amount of material is loosened by each rotation of the cutter so that a relatively large proportion of water is vdrawn into the suction of the conduit as compared'with the amount of solid material. Owing to the fact that cutters of the type heretofore employed have been so constructed that they necessarily cutfurrows or grooves in the bottom being excavated, it has been necessary to excavate below the desired mean level, thus requiring the removal of a lot of unnecessary material for which no compensation is received by the dredging contractor. A further disadvantage of` these prior operations has been that the material cut off by the rotary cutter has been removed by those portions ofthe blade which are located adjacent the tip or nose of the cutter so `that it is Vloosened at a point considerably removed from the mouth of the suction conduit, thus permitting large quantities of water to enter the conduit directly without intermingling with and drawing in the loosened solid material; The principal object of the present invention is to overcome the abovementioned difculties by I providing a hydraulic dredge having an improved form of rotary cutter adapted to remove `material from the bottoms of rivers, harbors and the like and leave a at surface over the excavated area. A further, object of` theinvention is to provide a hydraulic dredge having an improved form ofrotary cutter having a lower flat surface V,provided with cutting blades adapted .to remove (Cl. Sli-65) the solid material which is carried by these blades directly into the suction channel which communicates with the central part of the cutter. Still another object of the invention is to provide a hydraulic dredge comprising a rotary cutter of cylindrical form having cutting blades around its annular outer edge and provided alsol with spiralvly arranged cutting blades on'its lower end so arranged that they remove the material from the bottoni and convey this material, aswell as the material removed by the inst-named blades, inwardly toward the suction channel by which the material is conveyed upwardly to the hoppers of the dredge. Another object of the invention is -to provide a rotary cutter for dredges comprising a series of cutting blades which extend inwardly 'to points in proximity to fthe mouth of a suction pear more fully hereinafter.

The nature of the invention will be under stood from the following specificationtaken with the accompanying drawings, in which one embodiment is illustrated. In the drawings,

Fig. l shows a side elevation of the forward portion of a hydraulic dredge including the improved features of the present invention;

Fig. 2 shows an enlarged side elevation of the lower portion of the suction conduit of the dredge with the connected rotary cutter and associated parts shown in vertical axial section;

Fig. 3 shows an enlarged bottom plan view of the rotary cuttery shown in Fig. 2;

Fig.. 4 shows a transverse horizontal section taken on the line 4-.4 of Fig. 2; and

Fig. 5 is a partial vertical section similar to that of Fig. 2 showing a modified form of construction of the rotary cutter.

The invention is illustrated in the drawings in connection with a dredge IU comprising a hull I I `having projecting from the forward end thereof a pair of beams I2 Vand a cantilever frame or boom I3. The cantilever beams II are adapted to support the inner end of a digging arm or ladder I4 which carries at the outer end thereof the rotary cutter indicated generally at I5. The .outer portion of the ladder I4 is connected through a member I6 with pulleys I1 and a cable AI8 is passed around these pulleys and around another set of pulleys I9 on the outer end of the boom I3, with a portion of the cable extending inwardly through the boom to the hull of the dredge where it may be wound or unwound by a suitable winch for the purpose of raising or lowering the ladder or digging arm. Another cable 20 extends over pulleys 2| mounted on the boom and is attached to a member 22 carried by the outer end of the ladder for controlling the movements of the ladder during the diggingV operations. The ladder or digging arm ld comprises an outer shell 23 having mounted therein a rotary operating shaft 24 and a tubular conduit 25 through which the excavated material is conveyed. The shaft is rotated by an electric motor 26 mounted on the inner end of the arm or ladder l@ and the conduit 25 is connected through a universal joint 2l with a conduit 28 through which the excavated materials are conveyed to hoppers or storage spaces on the hull l I.

The outer end of the arm or ladder I4 is secured to an elbow 3U by means of bolts 3l and nuts 32 passing through radial flanges on the elbow and on the outer end of the arm, as shown particularly in Fig. 2. The operating shaft 24 is journaled in a bearing 33 which is formed as an integrall part of the elbow 3G and the outer end of the shaft engages the hub 34a of a beveled 'pinion 34 which serves to drive the rotary cutter.

vated may pass upwardly through the conduit 3'! and thence through the elbow 30 into the inclined conduit 25. The conduit 37 is provided adjacent its upper end with another annular ange S'ib and adjacent its lowerend with an annular'flange 31C. A rubber gasket or bushing ed is mounted on the conduit 3'! between the flanges 37b and S'lband this bushinghas outwardly extending flanges ib at its ends which coact with the faces of the anges on the conduit. This rubber bushing is adapted to form a bearing for a sleeve lll which constitutes the hub of the rotary cutter I5. The upper end of this sleeve lli is formed integrally` with or secured to a beveled gear 42 which meshes with the previously described pinion 34 sothat when the operating shaft 24 is rotated by the motor 2G, the cutter i is rotated to excavate the material which is drawn upwardly throughthe conduits by a suitable suction pump connected to the conduit 23 on the dredge.

The lower end of the sleeve or hub Il! is formed integrally with or secured to.` a radially extending blade or disk 4l! which forms a part of the cutter proper and which has formed integrally therewith a series of vanes Mb, Mb and 44 upon which are mounted cutting blades 45. The blade or disk it is apertured at its center to receive the ilange Sic of the conduit 3'! and the vanes 44a, illustrated as being three in number in this ernbodiment, are united with each other at their inner ends and extend outwardly therefrom in irregular spiral fashion, the` inner portions extending radially outward from the point of connection and being united with other portions 'which are substantially at right angles thereto,

while these latter portions are each united with an outer portion disposed at a relatively sharp angle to the periphery of the disk 44. Each of these vanes 44a carries at its outer end one of the vertically extending blades 5 which is inclined to a cylinder containing the peripheral surface Yfrom the periphery of the conduit 3i.

of the disk fill and, in addition, each vane Mb carries a series of downwardly extending blades 36 which are mounted on the lower edges thereof and which project beneath the lower edges of these vanes, as shown particularly in Fig. 2. At points opposite the mouth of the conduit 3l, the vanes 44a are cut away from their upper sides as shown at Md in order to` prevent obstruction of the flow of materials to the mouth of the conduit through the spaces between adjacent vanes 442. The vanes Mb converge inwardly with the vanes 44a but terminate at their inner edges outwardly The outer ends of these vanes Mb are equipped with cutting blades 45 which have a similar sharp incline with respect to the periphery of the cutter, like the cutting blades carried by the vanes Mb. The other vanes Mic are comparatively small in horizontal dimensions, being constructed as bars extending downwardly from the disk 4f?, adjacent its extreme outer edge with each vane 44C located substantially midway between the outer edge of the vane Mb and the outeredge of the next adjacent vane 44e, there being two vanes Mb located on opposite sides of each vane 4Gb. The vertical dimensions of all of the vanes 4de, Mib and 44C are preferably the same and the cutting edges of their blades l5 terminate in the same imaginary cylindrical surface. The lower end of the conduit 3l' terminates in an outwardly directed annular ange 37d which extends downwardly into the space formed by the cut away portions iid of the vanes 44a and at one side thereof this ange 31d is extended downwardly to form an apron 3'!e located on the side of the conduit toward the dredge and in a direction generally parallel to the direction in which the cutter is swung by the lateral movement of the arm or ladder i5 about a vertical axis, the purpose of this apron being to prevent an excessive quantity of water from being drawn into the conduit from that side of the cutter opposite the side where the cutting operations are taking place. Alternate cutting blades may have teeth to loosen the material between knife edge blades.

In order to assemble the cutter upon the gasket 40 carried by the conduit 31, the sleeve or hub portion ll of the cutter is provided with a removable section fil! of substantially semicircular cross-section. This section, and the other section dig which is integrally united with the disk d4 and the gear 42, are provided with outwardly extending flanges lib which are secured together by bolts 48 and nuts [i9 after the parts have been assembled. In order that the removable section S'If of the hub or sleeve may be firmly held in place independently of the bolts 48 and nuts 45B, there are provided a pair of semicircular retaining members 513 which are secured to the lower face of the gear 42 and to the upper face of the disk 44 by studs 5l, as shown particularly in Figs. 2 and 4. The aperture in the lower part of the gear 42 at the upper end of the hub or sleeve lli is of sufcient size to permit the gear to be passed over the flange 3l at the lower end of the conduit with the conduit section Hf removed and then, when the cutter has been elevated to a point where the gear l2 meshes with the pinion 34 and the upper end of the sleeve section Mg seats against the upper iiange of the bushing 43, the removable section Hf of the conduit is put in place and connected to the other section by the bolts 48 and nuts 49. The lower end of the sleeve or hub 4I then rests upon the lower flange of the bushing lll` which is in turn carried by the lower naugellofthe' conduit 31.: ...Thefcutterul 5,-isth`us rotatably mounted upon the conduit section-31iso that it4 may be moved abouti-when the amilor ladlder` I4 is swung ina. .horizontal planewith. respect :to the hull lof. thedredge., im i In.-.Fig. 5 .of fthe drawings,l thereis shownfia construction which is a modiiication of that previ.- iously :described to theA 'extent' that. the .hub `Ill `of ,the cutter is unitedfwith' the-diskportionr thereof-through anintegrallflange 34 Ii, instead of employing theiseparate flange and bolts 'as illus- -trated in Fig.. 2. 'I'heicutterfistthus'carried by ,thehub andfmay be applied totheconduitl by `having one side Mg of the hub detachable-as illustratedinFigAi.`

, 1n the Aoperation ofV tun-invention, the; digging varm or ladder is lowered "romiftherboom kI3 funtil the'cutter ISoccupies the -desired position with the lower face thereof-extending substantially in `a horizontalplane.- The cutter I5 is rotated in the direction indicated bythe"l arrow52 inFig. 3 andas it engages'the bottom, the blades V4t on. the` lower 'edgesof the vanes Mefcutfaway .the material'otthe bottom within a circular area determined bythe area of Jthecutter; and: this material is directed into the spaces between the vanes lilla with the-result-thatuitis directed inwardly by them'tothe Space 4immediately below -wardly by suction through the conduit 3I,the

elbowv 3l!f and the conduit 2`5-fromwhich ituis received and discharged `into the. hulliof the `dredge through the conduit`28. *Whenthis exvcavation by the lower cuttingibladesll has .been carriedwout Isuliic'ie'ntly to cause the cutter I5 to occupy the desired level, the ladder or digging arm I4 is then swung in a horizontal direction with the result thatthe earth 53 at the bottom of the river or harbor is cut away along a new bottom plane 53a while the blades on the circular edge of the cutter cut away the material along upright lines 53h. When the blades 45 are brought into action by the swinging of the arm or ladder I4, the material is cut off from the upright face of the earth and is directed inwardly between the vanes which, by reason of their direction of rotation, deflect it to the mouth of the conduit 31 so that it is immediately acted upon by the suction exerted through the conduit. During these operations, a considerable quantity of water is drawn in with the solid material to make a iiuid mass which may be drawn readily through the conduit and in order that an excessive quantity of water may not enter the conduit and thereby decrease the efficiency of the dredging operations, the apron 3'Ie has been provided to shut off partially the iiow of Water toward the central part of the cutter from the side of the cutter opposite that on which the cutting blades are operating. The dredging mechanism may thus be employed to full capacity in removing solid material with a minimum quantity of water and the formation of the cutter is such that the action of the suction conduit is materially aided by the vanes which direct the material in a positive manner inwardly toward the mouth of the conduit. The speed of rotation of the cutter may be varied to suit the character of the material being excavated and the cutter may be rotated with a minimum expenditure of power due to the provision of the rubber bushing 40 which is abundantly lubricated by fthe. wat'e'r. so that the. cutterrevolves' freelyftherefon.- Thereis thus provided-*an improved formjof Adredging. mechanism which may` be employed'to :excavatezccmparatively small layers J of :material .at thebottomof ,a-"river or harbor :withoutlthe necessity of excavating any excess Vmaterial beyond that vrequired, and withoutnleaving fatur- 'rowedorfunevensurface.- i .0.. i Although .onej formiorzthe .inv ntion has been .shown or described by Wayof4 illustratiomit iwill .be understood thatfitfmayrbe constructed-,in

within .the sco-pe of 'saidcutter having a lower cuttingV blade of `gen-- -eral spiral. form `comprising a series'of sections,

`arranged end` to end, said sectionsbeing of linear form and being relatively inclinedtofeach other. 2. The combination nafdredge, of a` suction :.co-nduit, adisklrotatably mounted on the'. end of. said conduit, a plurality of vanes united with each other beneath the center of said diskand with the under side of said diskg said vanes'ex- ,tending`v outwardly inspiraliashion, and 'other vanes carried by theunder 'sideof saiddiskand extending :inwardly between lsaid rstrnamed vanes. i. .i l. V.3. The `combinationzin,adredgepof asuction conduit, a ,disk rotatably mounted on the endzof :tending inwardly between said` first named vanes, and vertically extending cutting blades mounted on the outer ends of said vanes.

4. The combination in a dredge, of a suction conduit, a disk rotatably mounted on the end of said conduit, a plurality of vanes united with each other beneath the center of said disk and with the under side of said disk, said vanes extending outwardly in spiral fashion, other' vanes carried by the under side of said disk and extending inwardly between said first named vanes, vertically extending cutting blades mounted on the outer ends of said vanes, and other cutting blades mounted on the lower edges of said rst named vanes and having horizontal cutting edges.

5. The combination in a dredge, of a suction conduit, a disk having an aperture to receive the mouth of said conduit, means for rotating said disk, and arplurality of vanes carried by the under side of said disk and extending outwardly from the central portion thereof, said Vvanes being united with each other and being cut away on their upper edges below the mouth of said conduit.

6. The combination in a dredge, of a suction conduit, a disk having an aperture to receive the mouth of said conduit, means for rotating said disk, a plurality of vanes carried by the under side of said disk and extending outwardly from the central portion thereof, said vanes being united with each other and being cut away on their upper edges below the mouth of said conduit, cutting blades carried by said vanes, and

an apron carried by said conduit at one side thereof and extending downwardly into the space formed by cutting away portions of said vanes.

`'1. The combination in a dredge, of a suction conduit, a disk having an aperture to receive the mouth of said conduit, means for rotating said disk, a plurality of vanes carried by the under side of said disk and extending outwardly from the central portion thereof, said vanes being united with each other and being cut away on their Yupper edges below the mouth of said conduit, cutting blades carried by said vanes, an apron carried by said conduit at one side thereof and extending downwardly into the space formed by cutting away portions of said vanes, and additional cutting blades mounted on the lower edges of said vanes and having their cutting edges directed horizontally.

8. The combination in a dredge, of a conduit and a cutter rotatably mounted on the end of said conduit and comprising a disk having a plurality of vanes formed on the under side thereof and extending inwardly in substantially spiral fashionfrom the edge thereof, each of said vanes comprising a central portion extending radially outward, an adjacent portion extending substantially at right angles thereto, and an outer portion extending at .an angle to said second named portion in a direction opposite to said rst named portion,

9. The combination in a dredge, of a conduit and a cutter rotatably mounted on the end of said rconduit and comprising a disk having a plurality of .vanes formed' on the under side thereof and extending inwardly in substantially spiral fashion from the edge thereof, each of said vanes comprising a central portion extending radially outward, an adjacent portion extending substantially at right angles thereto, an outer portion extending at'anangle to said'second named portion in a direction opposite to said first named lportion, each of said portions having a straight klower edge, and a straight blade mounted on each edge portions' of each of said said conduit and comprising a disk having a plurality of vanes formedon the under side thereof and extending inwardly in substantially spiral fashion from the edge thereof, each of said vanes comprising ar central portion extending radially outward, an adjacent portion extending substantially at right angles thereto, an outer portion extending at an angle to said second named portion in a direction opposite to saidiirst named portion, each of said portions having a straight lower edge, and a straight blade mounted on each of said straight edge portions of each of said vanes, said blades being mounted so that their lower edges travel in' a horizontal plane upon rotation of said cutter. l

l1. The combination in adredge, of a suction conduit having la vertical lower end portion, a cutter having a tubular hub journaled on said tubular end portion, andan annular compressible member inserted between said vertical portion of saidconduit and the hub of said cutter.

12. The combination'in a dredge, of a suction conduit having a vertical lower end portion, a cutter having a tubular hub journaled on said tubular end portion, and an annular rubber bushing inserted between the Vertical portion of said conduit and the hub of said cutter;

13. The combination in-a dredge, of a suction conduit having a straight end portion, a rotary cutter having a hub journaled on said end portion, said hub comprising a detachable half section, and means for securing said half section to the remainder of said cutter.

ALOYS NEVELING. 

